Brat
by Historybuff1536
Summary: "Brat" Origin:Croatian.  English translation: "Brother"     Missing moment from DH between Ginny and her Brothers.  H/G


Lots of angst here folks. And oddly enough, I really love this plot.

The title of this story was just my creative way of saying it involves Ginny's brothers. You'll understand why I chose the title after a few paragraphs.

-Misty

* * *

The eerie, somber feeling that had engulfed the Burrow only added to Ginny's desolate state. She stared out of her bed room window and looked down at the ransacked tent; which only hours before had been a spectacular wedding venue. Now, much like Ginny's crumpled Bride maids dress, its golden hue was dull and bared a resemblance to something that had been riddled by the results of war.

Ginny sighed and turned to look away from the dreary scene. Air hissed through her clenched teeth, and out of instinct she grabbed at the makeshift sling over her healed shoulder. Bill had fixed it straight away, but her muscles were making it very known that they didn't like it when her humerus was ripped from its socket. Ginny clenched her teeth once more, but it wasn't from pain this time; it was from anger. If she could only get that Death Eater bastard at the business end of her wand, she'd show him who had the upper hand. But to tell you the truth that fantasy was probably futile; considering what she saw from her brothers earlier.. .

"_Oi! You three! On the ground!" The death eater loomed in front of them; you could tell he was enjoying this from the way he walked. _

_Ginny laid on her stomach just as they had instructed; hoping with every fiber of her being that they all made it through this. She hoped..no…she prayed that the three of them had gotten away. She didn't know what she'd do if he didn't… _

"_Hey you…..ginger." The voice was right over Ginny, and she looked up to meet the man's gaze. _

_He was looking at a small piece of parchment, and then his features flickered down at Ginny, and back to the parchment. "It's her!" He proclaimed. _

_Suddenly Ginny's scalp felt as if it were on fire, as the man pulled her up from the ground by her hair. She wanted to scream out in pain, but she knew it probably only make him pull harder. She had barely formed that train of thought when she heard a loud explosion from behind her. As the Death Eater dragged her a few feet away she caught a glimpse of her brothers being blasted back. _

"_Please no…" _

"_One more move from you lot, and it'll be your last!" Roared another man; his wand was trained on them. _

_The Death Eater holding Ginny dropped her down, and she peeked through her hair to make sure they were alright. Four pairs of eyes projecting absolute fear met hers, and Ginny did everything in her power to let them know, with one look, that she was alright. She could do this. _

"_Alright Weasley, where is he? We know Potter was here!" Ginny looked up at the man and squared her shoulders. "I don't know." _

_The corners of the man's mouth tilted up, and Ginny closed her eyes, anticipating it. _

"_Crucio!" _

_It was as if every fiber of her body had been lit on fire. Surely the depths of Hades its self couldn't be worse than this? Once more Ginny wanted to scream out, but she knew she could do this. She had too. _

_The man tipped up his wand and Ginny relished in the feeling of the curse being lifted. It was only then that she heard her brother's protests; but she didn't look at them._

"_Now I'm going to ask you one more time girl, where is Potter? We know you know. The Dark Lord knows of the two of you." _

_Ginny looked up. "I don't know." She could feel the cool soil bury itself under her fingernail, as she dug her fingers into the ground; but this time she did not look away. _

"_Crucio!" _

_The Death Eater hit her harder, and Ginny bit down on her tongue. She could taste copper. She could feel the warm liquid run down her chin. But still she didn't cry out. He held his wand on her for a few more moments, before he pulled it back. And instantly she felt his large hand dig into her hair, pulling her up from the ground; her face was right in front of his. "Do not lie to me girl!" Saliva flew from his mouth and landed in her face. _

"_I don't know where he is!" she screamed, and in that instance she felt her façade slip away."He left me! He broke it off with me, and I don't know where he went." _

_Hot tears welled up in her eyes, as realization set in. He was gone. Really gone. And she didn't know where he was or even if he was unharmed. _

_The Death Eater dropped her, and Ginny rolled over on to her back. The man stood over her, and smiled. His foot came up fast through the air and connected with her right shoulder. She heard the unholy click of her bone coming out of its own socket. _

_Her scream echoed over the screams around her. _

"_Goyle!" A voice from a distance called. "She doesn't know anything. She would have cracked by now if she did. Let's go." _

_The Death Eater smirked once more, and walked away; his cloak trailing behind him. The sound of Apparition was the next thing Ginny heard, and before she knew it, several pairs of familiar arms were wrapped around her. _

"_Ginny! Ginny! Oh Merlin…" _

_Ginny looked up in the scared face of her older brother Bill. His mouth began to move, and Ginny cried out when she felt her bone shift back into place. Then a second later her whole body felt oddly numb and light._

"_Her shoulder should be fine, but Mum with have to give her a potion for her mouth." _

"_Gin…can you hear me?" _

_Ginny answered him by trying to get up, but Fred and George held her down firm. "We'll carry you to the house. Don't move." _

"_Fine." She huffed, and she tilted her head to look at them. She wanted to argue with them, but she knew it was a lost cause. _

_The sounds of the other wedding guests who were caught up in the attack began drifting over, and Ginny tried to shift her body to see if anyone else was hurt. But Bill's hands held her firm. "Everyone's fine Gin. Let's just worry about you, okay?" _

"_Ginny! Ginny!" Her Mum and Dad were running at her full force._

"_I'm fine Mum…nothing you can't fix." But her words were slurred from her injured tongue. _

_Mrs. Weasley ran her wand all over Ginny, checking for anything and everything. She motioned for Bill to take her in the house. Bill sat her on the couch in the sitting room and her Mum brought in several potions on a tray. Ginny groaned. But she swallowed them as her mother instructed her too. But she absolutely refused the sleeping potion. "I'll make you some tea then." Her Mother told her. And she and Mr. Weasley went into the kitchen._

_Her brothers were dotted all around the room watching her intently. Each one of them wore a look of confusion. Charlie looked as if he were trying to solve a particularly difficult problem for __Arithmancy._

_Ginny sighed. "Charlie, I can hear the cogs turning all the way over here." _

"_They had a picture of you Ginny. They were looking for you, why?" _

"_Trying to find Harry is my only guess. It's no secret that we're friends Charlie. Everyone knows that." Ginny reasoned. _

_Charlie squared his shoulders. He wasn't buying it. _

"_Harry has lots of friends…and the Death Eaters didn't have their pictures." _

_Ginny opened her mouth, but closed it. She couldn't argue with logic._

"_That bastard said 'The Dark Lord knows of the two of you.' What the hell did he mean by that?" Charlie's fingers were clinched into hard fists; his knuckles had begun the process of turning white. _

_Ginny looked at him and sighed. No use of denying it now. "You know what he meant by that Charlie. And you know what I meant when I said Harry broke it off with me." _

_A snorted laugh escaped from her. "Although Harry's reasoning for breaking it off with me is now null and void. He only did it because he didn't want you-know-who to find out about us. Looks like it's too late for that now."_

"_You and Harry are…" Bill let his sentence trail off. _

"_Were." Ginny corrected; she knew her lips twisted around the word in an unpleasant manner._

"_We were wondering why Cousin Barny was looking at you, like you were the last drop of Butterbeer after a long hot day." _

_Ginny snorted and Fred and George grinned. Only those two could make a joke at a time like this. _

_Bill glared at his twin brothers, and turned back to Ginny. "Well this…complicates matters, that's for sure." _

_Ginny's head snapped up. "What do you mean?" _

"_I just mean that your safety is in danger, now that…" But whatever he was about to say was lost when Ginny jumped up and began an arsenal of yelling. _

"_Look here William Weasley! I don't know what you're playing at, but…." But this time Ginny was the one that was interrupted. _

"_What we're playing at?" Charlie was standing directly in front of his sister. "Merlin Ginny, a Death Eater just tortured you! They had a picture of you, they…were…looking…for…you." Charlie pulled at his hair. "And it's all because of Potter!" _

_The crack of Ginny's hand whipping through the air, and colliding with Charlie's face, echoed quite loudly in the cramped room. Ginny stood there chest heaving, glaring daggers at her second oldest brother. She opened her mouth; venom was dripping from every syllable she spoke. _

"_Don't you dare blame this on Harry." She looked around the room. "And that goes for all of you. It's not his fault that these bastards are after him. I knew that this would probably happen when I became involved with him. It was MY choice. And MY choice alone. So don't you dare go blaming him." _

_Charlie squared his shoulder. "And he knew they were after him, when he became involved with you. He pulled you in to this needlessly." _

_Ginny let out a ghostly laugh. "He pulled me into this? I'll have you to know Charlie Weasley that I've been in this since my first year. Or did you forget about the Chamber, the DA, my trip to the Department of Mysteries, or when the Death Eaters attacked the castle last May!"_

"_What's going on in here?" Mr. and Mrs. Weasley entered the sitting room, from the kitchen; the latter was carrying a tea tray._

_Charlie ignored his parent's inquiry and reeled back at his sisters words. But he continued through gritted teeth. "But now they're after you personally. If Potter hadn't…" _

"_I'm in love with him!" Ginny suddenly shouted; wanting him to understand. Her eyes widened at her public admission. She had never said it out loud. Not even to Harry. _

_The room suddenly became silent and Ginny could literally feel every pair of eyes boring into her. She took a necessary collective breath, and looked up to meet their stares. "None of this is Harry's fault. It was my choice to get involved with him, and I don't regret a single second of it." Ginny broke off and began smiling. "He had a few happy weeks with me, before the world totally went to hell. I'm the one who made him smile, when there was no reason for him to smile at all. And I'll never regret that. Ever. No matter how much they torture me, no matter what they do to me. They can kill me if they want to. But I will never betray him. One of the hardest things he's ever had to do was to break it off with me; I could see it in his eyes" Ginny stopped and took a breath. " I love him and I know he loves me too. And you lot will just have to live with that. And live with the consequences." _

_Ginny turned on her heel and went straight to her bed; and it was there that she poured out her emotions on her old, worn pillow. _

Ginny shook her head. She would probably need to apologize to Charlie for slapping him. But truth be known; she thought he deserved it. She also made a mental note to thank Fred and George for making a joke and staying quiet throughout the entire exchange.

A soft knock interrupted Ginny's train of thought, and she looked up at her door. "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Charlie, and Bill; both of them looked unsure of themselves.

Ginny looked back out her window, and listened as both of them came in and sat down. All that could be heard for a minute was their ragged breathing. Then finally Bill spoke. "We're sorry."

Ginny pointedly looked at Bill. "Considering you're only one person, and we're is a contraction of we are; I don't see how 'we're sorry' fits here Bill, since you're the only one speaking." Ginny finished by narrowing her eyes at Charlie.

"I'm sorry." Charlie told her; and he paused for a moment. "I'm sorry I said what I said. But you're my sister and you're hurt and I…"

Silent tears began to drip down Ginny's cheeks, and Charlie stopped speaking when he saw them.

"I don't expect any of you to understand. And to tell the truth; you probably can't." She looked up. "All I'm asking is for you to just respect my decisions…_our_ decisions."

Both of them fell silent. There was nothing they could say to that.

It wasn't until the following April, when Bill saw Harry after he took Ollivander to his Aunt's house, that he fully understood. The look that graced Harry's face when he told the group "Ginny sends her love." told him everything that he didn't understand. How could he not understand? It was the same look he knew he wore when he was worried about his wife, and was relieved to know that she was alright.

Bill mentally sighed. Harry was in love with his baby sister. And oddly enough, even with everything that was going on around them; he found that he was okay with it.

He just hoped it would all work out, for Ginny's sake.


End file.
